Springtime is usually the most popular time of year for macro work - everything blooming and coming to life and all - but don't ignore the winter months, it's my favorite time to shoot macro.

A nice winter morning (after a fresh snow fall or especially after an over night refreeze) can yield great opportunities. Keep your eyes open for some of these subjects:

Snow or ice settled on top of branches, winter berries or left over shells - like the opening image in this post

Puddles on the trail or along the banks of small streams and rivers that have frozen over night - look for trapped leaves, air bubbles and unique patterns (this is my personal favorite)

Mother Nature's overnight composition work in the leaves and pine needles that were blowing around. It's a special delight to find a contrasting light colored leaf that landed or bent in a unique way around a darker one

Are you new to macro and looking to give it a try? Then check out Mike Moat's Website. Mike is a self taught, outstanding photographer who specializes in macro education. In addition to his blog and clinics around the country, Mike does a really good down to earth instructional series in his books.

I can highly recommend his Creating Art with Macro - ebook, it's what I turned to as my first instructional tool into the macro world. The first couple of chapters rehash some of the typical camera basics, but after that it's all macro. Mike's writings are down to earth and easy to read in a nice simple format.

Check Mike's stuff out, if only to subscribe to his blog - I'm sure you'll find it worth your time!